Porn domain '.xxx' rejected by agency

LISBON, Portugal (CNN) -- An international agency tasked with the responsibility of setting guidelines for the creation of Internet domain names voted Friday to reject a company's proposal to create an ".xxx" domain for adult Web sites.

The proposal by Toronto-based Internet domain operator ICM Registry LLC was voted down 9-5 by the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It would have allowed adult Web sites to voluntarily participate in the industry's first devoted online domain space.

ICANN represents "the final word" on the creation of an ".xxx." domain name, Andrew Robertson, a consultant to the agency, told CNN. However, Robertson added the agency could vote on the matter again during its next round of applications.

In a transcript of the meeting posted on ICANN's Web site, Roberto Gaetono, a board member, said he was reluctant to approve the proposal because a "large part of the community thinks that if we approve dot-xxx, all that material ... will magically move into dot-xxx, and therefore children will be protected, because it will be easy to filter. That, in my opinion, is not going to happen."

ICANN also expressed concern in a Friday statement that such a domain would raise "significant law enforcement compliance issues because of countries' varying laws relating to content."

ICM Registry had touted the ".xxx" domain, saying it would allow adult Web site operators to better comply with regulators and provide families with a tool to filter their children's exposure to adult content.

The vote by ICANN marks the third time the body has rejected a proposal to create a porn-specific domain name.

-- By CNN's Zak Sos in New York

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